Teacher Aboard

THE JOURNEY HOME - HOMECOMING, NOV 27

It's always tough to leave those fun-filled summer days behind. Hopefully, some of you were able to spend some time this summer following Pride II' s adventures as she toured Korea and Japan, then crossed the Pacific Ocean. If you didn't, you can go back and catch up on those logs. And I would like to invite you to "stay aboard" as Pride II completes her journey down the west coast of the U.S., visits Mexico, passes through the Panama Canal, and visits Florida. There's plenty to explore! Mark your calendars! Pride of Baltimore II is due to arrive home for a gala (festive) homecoming at 12 noon on Friday, November 27. After almost a year making this historic voyage to Asia, this will be quite a celebration! You can be part of it by joining in the Welcome Home Pride Banner Contest.

PORT TOWNSEND

Twenty five days and 4,700 miles later, Pride II made landfall in the quaint coastal town of Port Townsend, WA. Despite the many wonderful experiences we had in Asia, it is always nice to be home in familiar territory. For months, nearly everything has been written or spoken in a foreign language. My frustrations with trying to be understood or finding my way around in Asia gave me a better appreciation for the deaf, and for people who are illiterate (can't read). If a person wanted to walk around just to read the signs, the historic town of Port Townsend is ideal! In the latter part of the 1800s, it was one of the toughest towns on the West Coast boasting 17 saloons on its waterfront.

Now the Victorian (built during the reign of Queen Victoria of England between 1837-1901) style houses provides a majestic setting for tourists who can make the journey to this peninsula by ferry. For Pride II, this port of call was a welcome chance for the crew to "catch their breath" after a month at sea. They also wanted to make the ship sparkle before her grand arrival in Seattle.

IMMIGRATION & GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

Whenever you arrive in a new country, you have to clear customs. This includes coming home to America from foreign countries. In the case of Pride II, custom agents visit the ship to check documents, such as our passports and the ship's papers. They are also interested in items such as food and plants that we have bought with us. One seemingly insignificant (not important) insect may be just the one that lays eggs of a species (type) that can do a great deal of destruction to trees or crops. (At airports custom agents even use drug sniffing dogs to identify smugglers.) Well, just like in China and other ports of call in Asia, the ship had to clear US Customs and Immigration in Port Townsend. Fortunately, it went very smoothly.

THE NATIVE AMERICANS OF THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA

When you consult a map, you will notice that Seattle is tucked away from the Pacific Coast behind the massive Olympic Peninsula. Pride II slipped past Cape Flattery near Neah Bay at the entrance of this strait (water way) separating America and Canada. This northwest corner has been home to Native American Indians since the end of the last ice 12,000 years ago. During that earlier time, bison (buffalo), caribou, and mastodon elephants roamed the peninsula and were hunted by the Indians for food.

In days past, Indians believed that a giant flying creature known as Thunderbird (now their tribal crest) lived on Mt. Olympus. Now Cape Flattery is part of the Makah Indian Reservation where the Indians fish for halibut, ling cod, and red snapper. The internationally known Makah Museum in Neah Bay documents the history of the Indians in this area. only be imagined.

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK

To the south, as Pride II made her way through the Strait of Juan De Fuca on her reentry to America, stood the majestic mountains and seashore of Olympic National Park. Fifty-five million years ago, this area rested beneath the sea where sediments (mud) were deposited and volcanic eruptions occurred on the ocean floor. Twenty five million years later, the land beneath the ocean moved slowly toward the continent and inched the area upward to form the 8,000 foot Olympic Mountains.

More recently, when the mountains were held in the grips of the Great Ice Age 20,000 years ago, the area was covered by glaciers that left behind jagged peaks, wide U-shaped valleys, and numerous lakes. Today the Olympic peaks are crowned by sixty glaciers - remnants of their Ice Age ancestors.

In contrast to the upheaval of this earlier time, the mountains presently boast the quiet splendor of huge 700 years old trees of the Hoh Rain Forest. The moisten laden (wet) winds off the Pacific Ocean rise up over the mountains where they cool and condense to produce 200 inches of rainfall annually. This moist, temperate (cool) rain forest is home to record breaking trees that are up to 298 feet tall and 63 feet around. To see these huge trees draped (covered) in mosses standing in the dense green forest is to witness forests as they have always been. They are home to Roosevelt Elk, Black Bears, coyotes, mountain lions, and many migratory birds. The food web (who eats whom) is complex and supports a wide variety of wildlife. As I looked at the pristine (unspoiled) beauty of this unique forest, I was grateful to those who had the foresight to protect this special place from lumbering efforts.

TIDES AND MARINE WILDLIFE

Click on the image for a larger view

In Chesapeake Bay, the tides rise and fall approximately one and a half feet. For the record, this change of water level is caused by the gravitational pull of the moon as the earth rotates (spins) beneath it every 24 hours. By world standards, the tidal range in the Chesapeake is small compared to other ports. On Pride II's Asia Tour, tidal flow was a constant consideration as the captain planned her course, and worried about docking or anchoring. As the tide changes, it can produce swift currents as in the Inland Sea of Japan, or require floating docks as on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal where the tide drops 15 feet.

On Pride II, the captain uses a computer software program that produces a graph showing the tidal range in feet and the time of day for a given location. For instance in Seattle, the tidal range is 10-11 feet. An interesting landscape results as the outgoing tide leaves mushroom like islands. The low tide also reveals tide pools filled with marine life, such as starfish, periwinkles, and mussels. However, danger lurks if you wander down a beach on an incoming tide if you become trapped against a cliff!

Marine life is also abundant (plentiful) off shore where tides are not a concern. The area is home to Orca whales, seal, otters, large octopuses, and kelp (seaweed) forests. For a closer look at marine life, check out the web pages for Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium and the Seattle Aquarium .

Continue with the second part of the September 4, 1998 log.

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